Out of the Darkness
by Tom Lincoln
Summary: Highly advanced weapon systems have hit the streets and are being used by young gangbangers. A new hero has emerged to counter this growing threat and find the source of the matter. The adventures of this hero are chronicled by 16 yearold Corey, who fol


**Out of the Darkness**

Chapter 1

Friday, 8:46pm

"Did you see him?"

"Yeah".

"So…"

"So, what?"

"So, tell me what happened? Did you see him fight?"

"Yeah. It was cool."

"Just cool? Are you kidding me? That's one hell of an understatement."

"Man, stuff like that happens too often in _our_ city."

"Yeah, well why didn't you believe me you jerk?"

"'Cause you exaggerate everything whenever you tell a story."

"Whatever man. I gotta get home. First thing in the morning, you will tell me what happened!"

"Yeah whatever. See ya."

I wanted to tell him so bad. I just couldn't believe it. I think I just needed some time to let it soak in a little. I mean, the guy is all over the news like almost everyday now. I don't know where his corny name came from, and I don't think he actually calls himself that name. Usually, the names of people like him are just something one of those media guys made up. We have our share of super-powered people in America, but he's by far the most intriguing.

It started out a few months ago. These guys were holding some Senator and his family hostage. They wanted a ransom of quite a few million dollars. They were holding them for a pretty long time too; it was actually kinda awesome. Not that I like stuff like that, but just because the Senator was someone that a lot of people didn't like. But the guys had some kind of new weapon that made things explode. The news explained what exactly it did, something about speeding up an object's atoms. But this guy came, literally, out of the shadows. There was all this smoke and the guys (it was about 20 of them) went flying around everywhere. He was tossing them around with…some kind of force I don't know. It was so amazing! To see something like that live, on the news; this was new.

The media ate this guy up. All the experts came out. They all tried their best to explain it. Some said it was some kind of a hoax, or some kind of "smoke, mirrors, and wires" type of thing. They actually thought that he had been in coercion with the criminals. But it turns out that they were wrong. He showed up again and again. His name came from the star he has on his chest and the fact that he's dressed in all black. And he comes out of shadows and dark corners. Lately these new high-tech weapons have been coming out. And for some really odd reason gangs and mobs have been obtaining these new weapons. I guess they must be pretty cheap. Or maybe somebody out there's got something planned. I don't know for sure, but I do know that what I just saw about 30 minutes ago definitely could not have been a hoax.

I was coming from the store when I saw them. They were running down the street with guns that shot out some kind of energy. They were using them to blow up cars, lampposts, storefronts, everything. The people on the street started freaking out running all over the place. They call themselves the Gokusotsu, which is Japanese for "devils". The funny thing is that they aren't Japanese, but their leaders are. They first came on the scene about three months ago. At first they were just some stupid juvenile delinquents terrorizing people in malls. Now, they have this high-tech weaponry that they've been using to terrorize downtown. I was walking out of the store to go meet Donny (the guy I was just talking to) when a beam shot at a car across the street and demolished it. That's when I saw him. Not _him_, but a former friend.

"Mike?"

"Sup Corny!"

My name is Corey, but he always used to call me 'Corny'. It was funny at first, but it got old quick. I hated that name with a passion. He didn't start doing that 'til we got to high school. He was actually a really good friend with a good head on his shoulders. Last month he got mixed up the Gokusotsu. I don't know how that happened, but I guess you never really know people.

"What the hell is wrong with you, why are you doing this! Hell, why are you even running with these dudes, man!"

"What the do you care, huh?

"What? We used to be boys, man! But now you're blowin' up people's property? This is freakin' insane!"

" you, I don't give a damn what you think! I like what I'm doin'. I'm not in' crazy you loser!"

He shoved the hell out of me and ran off to continue his devastation of the city. I couldn't believe it. I've known this dude since forever. I felt bad, not so much for him, but because I felt like there was something that I could have done about this and didn't. Him and the rest of his crew were destroying everything until _he_ arrived. He came out of a cloud of black smoke. I had seen him do what he can do on the news, but this was unbelievable! The Gokusotsu all stopped, petrified, in their tracks. A couple of them started to run and he sprung into the air and did a flip like Spider-man or something. Then while he was in the air he caught the guys with some black magic force that came out of his hands. That's when he flung them into some of the other dudes that were running. The rest of them started shooting and he used his powers to shield himself and thrashed some more of them around. This dude was some kind of acrobat, flipping around in the air. Then he started fighting them, and boy could this dude fight. He used his powers to snatch the guns from the Gokusotsu and destroyed them. That's when the police came. In a flash of smoke, he just up and disappeared.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean, like I said, there are some super-powered people in America, or better yet, the world. Some of them are good, some of them bad, of course. But most of them just have super strength, speed, agility, project some kind of power, control people's minds, or whatever. Although, lately there have been some weird powers manifesting in people, but his power is incredibly extraordinary. He was covered from head to toe in black and had a single star on his chest, just like when I saw him on the news. When he used his powers, the star glowed like a star up in the sky. I wish I could talk to him. Better yet, I think I'll do that. Find out why he does what he does. There are very few true heroes around. The others are for hire or work for the government or some company. I mean, is it for fame? Is it revenge? Or does he honestly care about this city so much that he would risk his life for it? I wanna know. No, I'm gonna know. I'm gonna find him, somehow, and find out all I can about this guy, this hero that they call the Dark Star.


End file.
